The Minnesota Twins made a little history on Monday night against the Chicago White Sox, when the latter decided that it would not be necessary to tag up on a flyout.
AJ Pollock hit a shot into right center field that looked like it was going to get down and score a few runs.
But it wasn’t meant to be, as Byron Buxton ran it down and recorded the out.
The runners on base realized it too late and were unable to get back to the bags in time, allowing the Twins to pull off a rare form of a triple play.
Sarah Langs of MLB.com tweeted a video of the unprecedented moment.
The first 8-5 triple play on record!
h/t @sabr’s invaluable database https://t.co/Ki6YzFm0B4
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 5, 2022
How Embarrassing
Apparently, it is possible to mess up that badly in baseball.
Once Buxton made the catch, you knew it was trouble for the White Sox.
He made a heck of catch and a great throw to nab Yoan Moncada, who had been on first and was tagged.
Then Gio Urshela made a heads up play to step on second for the third out.
How do you make such a bonehead mistake?
Well, it was quite clear that the concept of tagging up escaped their minds for just a split second, which cost them dearly.
And this a quite a rare form of a triple play.
The unassisted triple play is the hardest thing to do in all of baseball.
But an 8-5 triple play?
That’s unheard of.
Baseball is a funny game and weird things happen all the time.
But even the most well-rounded baseball minds couldn’t have seen this coming.
What a play by Buxton.
And what a costly mistake by the White Sox.
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